Laws about Animals for Food

11 The Lord spoke again to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Among all the animals which are on the earth, these are the animals which you may eat.^{(A) 3} You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof [that is, a hoof split into two parts especially at its distal extremity] and chews the cud. ⁴ Nevertheless, you are not to eat these, among those which chew the cud or divide the hoof: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is [ceremonially] unclean to you. ⁵ And the ^[a]shaphan, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you. ⁶ And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you. ⁷ And the swine, because it divides the hoof and makes a split hoof, but does not chew the cud; it is unclean to you. ⁸ You shall not eat their meat nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

⁹ ‘These you may eat, whatever is in the water: whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, these you may eat; ¹⁰ but whatever does not have fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers, of all the teeming life in the waters, and of all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are [to be considered] detestable to you.^{(B) 11} They shall be ^[b]hated things to you. You may not eat their meat; you shall detest their carcasses. ¹² Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.

Avoid the Unclean

¹³ ‘These you shall detest among the birds; they are not to be eaten, for they are ^[c]hated things: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, ¹⁴ the kite, every kind of falcon, ¹⁵ every kind of raven, ¹⁶ the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, every species of hawk, ¹⁷ the little owl and the cormorant and the great owl, ¹⁸ the white owl, the pelican, the carrion vulture, ¹⁹ the stork, all kinds of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰ ‘All winged insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you; ²¹ yet of all winged insects that walk on all fours you may eat those which have legs above their feet with which to leap on the ground. ²² Of these you may eat: the whole species of migratory locust, of bald locust, of cricket, and of grasshopper.^{(C) 23} But all other winged insects which are four footed are detestable to you.

²⁴ ‘By [contact with] these you will become unclean; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until the evening (dusk), ²⁵ and whoever picks up any of their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. ²⁶ Concerning all the animals which divide the hoof, but do not have a split hoof, or which do not chew the cud, they are unclean to you; whoever touches them becomes unclean. ²⁷ Also all animals that walk on their paws, among all kinds of animals that walk on four legs, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until the evening, ²⁸ and the one who picks up their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.

²⁹ ‘These also are unclean to you among the swarming things that crawl around on the ground [and multiply profusely]: the mole, the mouse, and any kind of great lizard, ³⁰ the gecko, the crocodile, the lizard, the sand reptile, and the chameleon. ³¹ These [creatures] are unclean to you among all that swarm; whoever touches them when they are dead becomes unclean until evening. ³² Also anything on which one of them falls after dying becomes unclean, whether it is an article of wood or clothing, or a skin, or a sack—any article that is used—it must be put in water, and will be unclean until the evening; then it becomes clean. ³³ As for any earthenware container into which any of these [crawling things] falls, whatever is in it becomes unclean, and you shall break the container. ³⁴ Any of the food which may be eaten, but on which [unclean] water falls, shall become unclean, and any liquid that may be drunk in every container shall become unclean. ³⁵ Everything that part of their carcass falls on becomes unclean; an oven, or a small stove shall be smashed; they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you. ³⁶ Nevertheless a spring or a cistern (reservoir) collecting water shall be clean; but whoever touches one of these carcasses shall be unclean. ³⁷ If a part of their carcass falls on any seed for sowing which is to be sown, it is clean; ³⁸ but if water is put on the seed and a part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.

³⁹ ‘If one of the animals that you may eat dies [of natural causes], whoever touches its carcass becomes unclean until the evening. ⁴⁰ And whoever eats some of its meat shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening; also whoever picks up its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.

⁴¹ ‘Now everything that swarms on the ground is detestable; it is not to be eaten. ⁴² Whatever crawls on its belly, and whatever walks on all fours, and whatever has many feet among all things that swarm on the ground, you shall not eat; for they are detestable. ⁴³ Do not make yourselves loathsome (impure, repulsive) by [eating] any swarming thing; you shall not make yourselves unclean by them so as to defile yourselves. ⁴⁴ For I am the Lord your God; so consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm or crawls on the ground.^{(D) 45} For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; therefore you shall be holy, for I am holy.’”^(E)

⁴⁶ This is the law regarding the animal and the bird and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth, ⁴⁷ to make a distinction between the [ceremonially] unclean and the [ceremonially] clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.

Laws of Motherhood

12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, saying,

‘If a woman conceives and gives birth to a male child, she shall be [ceremonially] unclean for seven days, unclean as during her monthly period. ³ On the eighth day the flesh of the male child’s foreskin shall be circumcised. ⁴ Then she shall remain [intimately separated] thirty-three days to be purified from the blood; she shall not touch any consecrated thing nor enter the [courtyard of the] sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. ⁵ But if she gives birth to a female child, then she shall be unclean for two weeks, as during her monthly period, and she shall remain [intimately separated] sixty-six days to be purified from the blood.

⁶ ‘When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting a one year old lamb as a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering; ⁷ and he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who gives birth to a child, whether a male or a female child. ⁸ If she cannot afford a lamb then she shall take two turtledoves or young pigeons, one as a burnt offering, the other as a sin offering; the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”^(A)

The Test for Leprosy

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ² “When a man has a swelling on the skin of his body, a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes the infection of ^[a]leprosy on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons the priests. ³ The priest shall look at the diseased spot on the skin of his body, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and the infection appears deeper than the skin of his body, it is an infection of leprosy; when the priest has looked at him, he shall pronounce him [ceremonially] unclean. ⁴ If the bright spot is white on the skin of his body and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair on it has not turned white, the priest shall ^[b]isolate the person who has the infection for seven days. ⁵ The priest shall examine it on the seventh day, and if in his estimation the infection has not changed and has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall isolate him for seven more days. ⁶ The priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the infection has a more normal color and the spot has not spread on the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a scab; and he shall wash his clothes and be clean.

⁷ “But if the scab spreads farther on the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his [ceremonial] cleansing, he shall show himself to the priest again. ⁸ The priest shall look, and if the scab has spread on the skin, then he shall pronounce him unclean; it is leprosy.

⁹ “When a leprous infection is on a person, he shall be brought to the priest. ¹⁰ The priest shall examine him, and if there is a white swelling on the skin and it has turned the hair white and there is new raw flesh in the swelling, ¹¹ it is a chronic leprosy on the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; he shall not isolate him because he is [clearly] unclean. ¹² But if the [suspected] leprosy breaks out farther on the skin, and it covers all of the skin of the one who has the outbreak—from his head to his foot—wherever the priest looks, ¹³ the priest shall examine him. If the [suspected] leprosy has covered his entire body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; it has all turned white, and he is clean. ¹⁴ But whenever raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. ¹⁵ The priest shall examine the raw flesh, and he shall pronounce him unclean; the raw flesh is unclean, it is leprosy. ¹⁶ But if the raw flesh turns again and is changed to white, then he shall come to the priest, ¹⁷ and the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased part is changed to white, then the priest shall pronounce him who had the disease to be clean; he is clean.

¹⁸ “And when there is on the skin of the body [the scar of] a boil that is healed, ¹⁹ and in the place of the boil there is a white swelling or a bright spot, reddish white, then it shall be shown to the priest; ²⁰ and the priest shall look, and if it looks deeper than the skin and the hair on it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the disease of leprosy; it has broken out in the boil. ²¹ But if the priest examines it and finds no white hair in it and it is not deeper than the skin and is dull in color, then the priest shall isolate him for seven days. ²² If it spreads farther on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a disease. ²³ But if the bright spot remains where it is and does not spread, it is the scar of the boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

²⁴ “Or if the body has on its skin a burn from fire and the new flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish white or white, ²⁵ then the priest shall examine it, and if the hair in the bright spot has turned white, and it appears deeper than the skin, then leprosy has broken out in the burn. So the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the disease of leprosy. ²⁶ But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the bright spot and it is not deeper than [the rest of] the skin but is dull in color, then the priest shall isolate him for seven days. ²⁷ And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day; if it is spreading farther on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is leprosy. ²⁸ But if the bright spot remains in its place and has not spread in the skin, but is dull in color, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean; for it is the scar of the burn.

²⁹ “When a man or woman has a disease on the head or in the beard (face), ³⁰ the priest shall examine the diseased place; if it appears to be deeper than the skin, with yellow, thin hair in it, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a scale, it is leprosy of the head or beard. ³¹ But if the priest examines the spot infected by the scale, and it does not appear deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, the priest shall isolate the person with the scaly infection for seven days. ³² On the seventh day the priest shall examine the diseased spot; if the scale has not spread and has no yellow hair in it, and the scale does not look deeper than the skin, ³³ then he shall shave himself, but he shall not shave the scale; and the priest shall isolate the person with the scale for seven more days. ³⁴ Then on the seventh day the priest shall look at the scale; if the scale has not spread on the skin and appears to be no deeper than the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; he shall wash his clothes and be clean. ³⁵ But if the scale spreads farther on the skin after his cleansing, ³⁶ then the priest shall examine him, and if the scale has spread on the skin, the priest need not look for the yellowish hair; he is unclean. ³⁷ If, in the priest’s estimation, the scale has remained [without spreading], and black hair has grown in it, the scale is healed; he is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

³⁸ “When a man or a woman has bright spots on the skin of the body, even white bright spots, ³⁹ then the priest shall look, and if the bright spots on the skin of their bodies is a dull white, it is [only] a rash that has broken out on the skin; he is clean.

⁴⁰ “If a man loses the hair on his head, he is bald, but he is clean. ⁴¹ And if he loses the hair on front of his head, he is bald on the forehead, but he is clean. ⁴² But if there is a reddish-white infection on the bald head or forehead, it is leprosy breaking out on his bald head or forehead. ⁴³ Then the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or forehead like the appearance of leprosy on the skin of the body, ⁴⁴ he is a leprous man; he is unclean; the priest shall most certainly pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head.

⁴⁵ “As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered (disheveled), and he shall cover his mustache and call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ ⁴⁶ He shall remain [ceremonially] unclean as long as the disease is on him; he is unclean. He shall live alone; he shall live outside the camp.

⁴⁷ “When a garment has a mark of leprosy in it, whether it is a wool garment or a linen garment,^{(A) 48} whether in woven or knitted material or in the warp (lengthwise strands) or woof (crosswise strands) of linen or of wool, or in a skin or on anything made of leather, ⁴⁹ if the mark is greenish or reddish in the garment or in the leather or in the warp or woof or in any article made of leather, it is an infestation of leprosy and shall be shown to the priest. ⁵⁰ The priest shall examine the mark and shall quarantine the article with the mark for seven days. ⁵¹ He shall examine the mark on the seventh day; if it has spread in the garment, whether in the warp or the woof, or in the leather, whatever the leather’s purpose, the mark is a malignant leprosy; it is unclean. ⁵² So he shall burn the garment, whether the warp or woof, in wool or linen, or on anything made of leather in which the mark occurs; for it is a malignant leprosy; it shall be burned in the fire.

⁵³ “But if the priest sees that the mark has not spread in the garment, either in the warp or the woof, or on anything made of leather, ⁵⁴ then the priest shall order that they wash the thing in which the mark occurs, and he shall quarantine it for seven more days. ⁵⁵ The priest shall examine the article with the mark after it has been washed, and if the mark has not changed color, even though the mark has not spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it in the fire; it is a corroding mildew, whether on the top or on the front of it.

⁵⁶ “If the priest looks and the mark has faded after it is washed, he shall tear it out of the garment, or the leather, or out of the warp or woof. ⁵⁷ If it still appears in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or on anything made of leather, it is an outbreak; you shall burn the marked part in the fire. ⁵⁸ The garment, whether the warp or the woof, or anything made of leather from which the mildew has departed after washing, shall then be washed a second time and it will be [ceremonially] clean.”

⁵⁹ This is the law for a leprous disease in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or woof, or on anything made of leather, to pronounce it clean or unclean.